Thank you for visiting our forum. As a guest, you have limited access to view some discussion and articles. By joining our free community, you will be able to view all discussions and articles, post your own topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload photos, participate in Pick'Em contests and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today!!

We have had a ton of success the last few years, and I was thinking what could be done to take the next step in our program?

Here are my thoughts:
1. Increase our recruiting budget. We are near the bottom of the league in recruiting budget, yet we are in a state that has a lack of depth in talent. We need to spend more in recruiting to bring in out of state kids. I also think this could mean hiring more people to support the recruiting staff. Road trips!

2. Spend even more money on our facilities. We have made great strides in the last few years in this area, but we still have a long way to go. By most assessments, we are still behind all of the following programs in overall facilities: ALA, AU,LSU,TAM,FLA,GA,TN,MISS,ARK,Mizzou. All of these programs already have full size indoor facilities already in place. I realize ours is coming, but just pointing out how far we are behind.

3. Write more checks. All of these things will take more money, our fans and alumni will need to give more to make this happen. This could come from higher ticket prices, or additional special packages for higher contributors. We can not rely on the SEC share of revenue to fund this since everyone else will get the same share.

Your Turn.

__________________
Q:Why did the Rooster cross the road?
A:To kick a Tiger's Ass

1 Go after 5 star recruits, not every year, but when the field is deep and they are in our pipeline, we need to go after them hard. For talent, and for a recruiting standpoint of other seeing us recruiting well, in turn makes the talking heads talk us up more, which means more airtime etc.

2 Since most of the projects have been approved by the board, and the funding is there, we need to go ahead and get these new projects built. The longer we wait, the farther behind we will be and the longer it will take to catch up to the Alabama's and Oregon's.

3 Get rid of certain coaches that seemingly contribute noting on the field or in recruiting, and get someone that does. (Cough Cough Special Teams)

We have had a ton of success the last few years, and I was thinking what could be done to take the next step in our program?

Here are my thoughts:
1. Increase our recruiting budget. We are near the bottom of the league in recruiting budget, yet we are in a state that has a lack of depth in talent. We need to spend more in recruiting to bring in out of state kids. I also think this could mean hiring more people to support the recruiting staff. Road trips!

2. Spend even more money on our facilities. We have made great strides in the last few years in this area, but we still have a long way to go. By most assessments, we are still behind all of the following programs in overall facilities: ALA, AU,LSU,TAM,FLA,GA,TN,MISS,ARK,Mizzou. All of these programs already have full size indoor facilities already in place. I realize ours is coming, but just pointing out how far we are behind.

3. Write more checks. All of these things will take more money, our fans and alumni will need to give more to make this happen. This could come from higher ticket prices, or additional special packages for higher contributors. We can not rely on the SEC share of revenue to fund this since everyone else will get the same share.

Your Turn.

Just throwing money at something does not always work! Our Gov borrows 1 million dollars a minute, hows that workin for ya?

I hope we are already grooming SOS's replacement, we need another HR hire to keep what Holtz and Spurrier have accomplished going in the right direction. Write the big check there!

We have had a ton of success the last few years, and I was thinking what could be done to take the next step in our program?

Here are my thoughts:
1. Increase our recruiting budget. We are near the bottom of the league in recruiting budget, yet we are in a state that has a lack of depth in talent. We need to spend more in recruiting to bring in out of state kids. I also think this could mean hiring more people to support the recruiting staff. Road trips!

2. Spend even more money on our facilities. We have made great strides in the last few years in this area, but we still have a long way to go. By most assessments, we are still behind all of the following programs in overall facilities: ALA, AU,LSU,TAM,FLA,GA,TN,MISS,ARK,Mizzou. All of these programs already have full size indoor facilities already in place. I realize ours is coming, but just pointing out how far we are behind.

3. Write more checks. All of these things will take more money, our fans and alumni will need to give more to make this happen. This could come from higher ticket prices, or additional special packages for higher contributors. We can not rely on the SEC share of revenue to fund this since everyone else will get the same share.

Your Turn.

I agree with what you posted, although UGA does not have a full indoor facility, it's only about 30 yds.

If SOS wanted a bigger recruiting budget he would already have one. He wants to recruit smarter, not zoom everywhere, throwing offers out to kids we have no shot at getting.

I think the results we are getting are realistically as about as good as we can get, given our circumstances of geographic location and state and population size. The further away you get from home, the harder it is to get kids, unless you have tons of tradition. The only way we can get tradition is keep winning and get a few SEC titles and more. Right now we have a decent chance of beating anyone in the nation and then it is just a matter of a few breaks, good execution, better game plans, etc.

You just have to target certain kids and discern as quickly as possible what is the biggest key you can use to get him interested in your school...close to home, in state kid, out of state kid, not too far away from home, SEC, fine coaches that develop talent, loyal fans, school and academic support staff, great teammates already here, being the first to win the SEC or more here, early playing time, great relationship with coaches, or other things. Any one or more of those things might be what you need to focus upon and then work him and get his trust. Some kids want all flash, some don't and want simple things and substance. We have a pretty much non BS staff, I''ll go with that every time.

__________________"When I was young I looked like Al Capone, but I lacked his compassion." - Oscar Levant

If SOS wanted a bigger recruiting budget he would already have one. He wants to recruit smarter, not zoom everywhere, throwing offers out to kids we have no shot at getting.

I think the results we are getting are realistically as about as good as we can get, given our circumstances of geographic location and state and population size. The further away you get from home, the harder it is to get kids, unless you have tons of tradition. The only way we can get tradition is keep winning and get a few SEC titles and more. Right now we have a decent chance of beating anyone in the nation and then it is just a matter of a few breaks, good execution, better game plans, etc.

You just have to target certain kids and discern as quickly as possible what is the biggest key you can use to get him interested in your school...close to home, in state kid, out of state kid, not too far away from home, SEC, fine coaches that develop talent, loyal fans, school and academic support staff, great teammates already here, being the first to win the SEC or more here, early playing time, great relationship with coaches, or other things. Any one or more of those things might be what you need to focus upon and then work him and get his trust. Some kids want all flash, some don't and want simple things and substance. We have a pretty much non BS staff, I''ll go with that every time.

SOS has pushed personally for upgrades to our facilities, specifically the indoor facility. This is partially because we need a place indoors and partially because he knows we need to keep up with our competitors. SOS recognizes what we need to stay competitive, more resources more upgrades, and recruiting upgrades are included in that.

__________________
Q:Why did the Rooster cross the road?
A:To kick a Tiger's Ass

I would get the big money boys together and start buying up the land around Williams Brice. Then we could transform the area around Williams Brice from an industrial wasteland into a park complex that is family friendly and a beautiful place to kick butt on Saturdays.

__________________
"I don't know. I sort of always liked playing them that second game because you could always count on them having two or three key players suspended."-S. Spurrier on scheduling changes in the sec.

We should see a lot of improvement this season. Now that we've gotten rid of that lazy Clowney, and our run-first QB Shaw; things will be looking up. I think the next step has go to be to find a replacement for Spurrier.

Sure, we've had a couple of successful seasons, but if we want to take that next step we are going to need to find someone younger who likes to recruit. Someone that can relate to the kids. I don't know about you, but I expect us to be getting 6-7 5 star recruits a year if we ever want to take it to the next level.

We should see a lot of improvement this season. Now that we've gotten rid of that lazy Clowney, and our run-first QB Shaw; things will be looking up. I think the next step has go to be to find a replacement for Spurrier.

Sure, we've had a couple of successful seasons, but if we want to take that next step we are going to need to find someone younger who likes to recruit. Someone that can relate to the kids. I don't know about you, but I expect us to be getting 6-7 5 star recruits a year if we ever want to take it to the next level.

Upon further consideration, I have come up with an answer so simple that I am amazed no one thought of it before.

All the great programs have plenty of 5 star recruits. So what do we do to beat them? Get 6 star recruits.

Pretty much think SOS and Ray and the gang are doing all they can and the improvements we have made and are upcoming are part of it. Heck, I never thought I would see what we have now. No, I am not satisfied until we get some serious hardware and titles, but I am appreciative and realistic about how tough it is to get to the top and stay there long enough to become a traditional power.

If we make it before I croak, I will become crazier than I am now, of course, but as far as I am concerned, we are already winners. We are lucky enough to be Gamecock fans. Even through the decades and generations of bad times, it has been worth it and darn few other fan bases can say that truthfully. It separates us from the others for we earned all the good we've received and treasure it all.

__________________"When I was young I looked like Al Capone, but I lacked his compassion." - Oscar Levant

The quickest way might be to get some money together and buy the Seahawks. I hear they have a good defense.

Actually, it's a lot harder to build and sustain a great program than to dream one up. Think over the years of the programs that were on top for a while and dropped as others took over top spots. Coaches change, rules change (scholarship limits, recruiting rules), alumni put up cash, teams get caught cheating. How good has Notre Dame been the last 10 years. What happened to Purdue? Where did Louisville come from? Can they stay up? Nebraska? Will Penn State come back? There's just no simple or single way to get it and sustain it.

I do like the idea someone posted about buying land and making a beautiful, attractive complex surrounding WB. The redevelopment of the farmers' market sure looks nice and makes a good impression. It might allow for more parking improvements as well.

As a Texan who lived in South Carolina for a few years, I can tell you that the distance factor can be overcome with many of these kids if you reinforce the positives of the entire state of South Carolina (beaches, mountains within an easy drive, beauty of the state).

G.A. is onto something with all these northern kids that hate the winter months. Show them South Carolina and all those beaches!